


Replica

by PizzaHorse



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Crying, Developing Friendships, Duck - Freeform, Ducks, Emotional, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Epic Friendship, F/F, Feelings, Female Characters, Female Friendship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Mirrors, Realization, Sad, Sad and Happy, Sad and Sweet, Strong Female Characters, Teenagers, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-11 23:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17456132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PizzaHorse/pseuds/PizzaHorse
Summary: Who is the shadow and who is the caster?





	Replica

Lena stared at the face in the mirror. It was one she'd only actually seen a couple times before, during the eclipse, although her image was the last thing she'd seen before being banished to the shadow realm (twice), so it was deeply ingrained into her psyche. Magica De Spell.

Except it wasn't quite Magica. The curvature of the face and beak matched almost to a T, but white plumage revealed itself where green would normally be settled. There was a faint trace of purple eyeshadow from the day before (Lena had a habit of not wiping off her makeup before bed). The hair was different, too, although it had recently begun to take on a similar style to that of the witch. Her bangs were more or less the same, swooped to the side and colored, but still… There was a stripe down the edge of it where she'd grown it out, blue where Magica's was purple, but if she turned to the side at just the right angle, the resemblance was almost uncanny. The hair had been a subconscious decision on Lena's part, merely wanting to try something new, but one that led her to take a good hard look at herself when she finally noticed.

Half-awake, the face in the bathroom mirror startled her. So familiar, yet so foreign. She blinked, trying to find her way back to reality, but found nothing changed. She knew it was her own image, because she saw that same image just about every day. And yet, this morning, it felt like there was a little bit of her aunt staring back, too. The longer she stared, the more unsettled she became, until she finally pulled back her fist and slammed it into the glass.

It was hard enough to shatter it into hundreds of pieces and rattle it so much the medicine cabinet to bounced open, resulting in several bottles clattering into the sink or onto the floor. It was a wonder the thing stayed attached to the wall. Lena drew her hand away and without its support a few fragments broke off and fell into the sink with a clink.

For a moment, she stood, hands braced against the sink as her form quivered. Her chest felt like someone was squeezing it, like there was so much pressure she could barely breathe. The world felt far away, and only the coolness of the porcelain beneath her fingertips kept her grounded. She didn't bother examining her hand after her outburst. It stung, a little, and small red droplets were beginning to show on the surface, but they went unnoticed.

Lena finally backed away from the mess she'd made, not stopping until she felt the wall behind her, sliding against it down to the floor. She curled her knees up to her chest, burying her face in the space between and wrapping her arms around them. She choked out a sob, trying to muffle her whimpers in the hopes she wouldn't be discovered.

Of course, in a house with two ex-spies and an extra curious ex-spy's granddaughter, very little went unnoticed in this household. Webby had heard all the commotion from down the hall, and it was mere moments before a light knock came at the door.

"Lena? Are you okay? I heard a lot of noise."

If Lena answered now she'd definitely hear the thickness in her voice, and if she tried to get rid of it before speaking Webby would definitely hear the sniffle. Her keen senses were invaluable on adventures, but when it came to trying to hide things in the manor, they made it nearly impossible. Maybe if she was quiet, Webby would go away.

"Is this a prank? You know your traps hardly ever work on me."

Lena should have known better than to think she could get rid of her that easily.

"Lena?" she knocked again, louder this time. "I'm coming in. O-Okay? I just want to make sure you're alright."

If she'd thought about it, Lena could have gotten up and locked the door. Not that that would have stopped Webby. At most it would result in a minor delay in her entering, although it would really only take her a few seconds to completely rip the doorknob off. So perhaps it was for the best that she hadn't thought of it.

Webby entered slowly, the old door squeaking on its hinges and announcing she had made good on her statement. She was indeed entering the room in which Lena sat, curled into herself, and upon seeing her friend in such a state Webby closed the door behind her and rushed over.

"What happened?"

There was no way to hide the fact she was crying, but Lena looked up anyway, swiping a hand across her eyes. Unfortunately she'd momentarily forgotten about the cuts on her knuckles and ended up smudging some blood on her face. She realized her mistake when she looked down at her hand, then back up at Webby who was more than a little concerned.

"It's not a big deal," Lena spoke softly, trying to keep her voice level.

"You cut yourself! Let me see," Webby gently grasped the hand and examined it, turning it over so she could see both sides. It looked worse that it was, now that the red liquid had been smeared around. When she looked up, Lena had buried her face into her free arm, but her unabashed sniffling could clearly be heard.

"I don't think it's bad, but it definitely needs to be bandaged. "Let me-" Webby stood quickly, observing the cracked mirror on her ascent now that she was facing it, piecing together the clues around the room and speculating what may have occurred when she was absent. There would be time later to find out the actual story from Lena, but right now she had to focus on gathering a towel, an antiseptic, and something to wrap up the hand.

She wet one edge of the towel with warm water, crouching down onto her knees with all the supplies so she could get to work. The cuts were small and the bleeding had mostly stopped, but it would definitely bruise and be sore for awhile. Nothing to be too worried about. It had looked a lot worse than she let on when she'd first seen it, although Webby had initially lied about it not being bad, Lena's hand was in much better condition than she'd thought.

"This might sting," Webby warned as she poured some of the disinfectant on a dry part of the towel, before applying it to the still open wounds. She thought she saw Lena shrug an acknowledgement, but she wasn't sure. In any case, her friend had grown quiet while Webby went about her task, her breathing leveling out and her sniffling growing infrequent.

She was worried there might be some glass in the wound, but a thorough inspection indicated it was a fairly clean injury to begin with. That was good. Webby may not have been a doctor, but her grandma had taught her enough about first aid that even a doctor would be impressed with her training and knowledge.

"We should get that blood off your face, too," she stated, once she had finished wrapping the hand up with gauze and tape.

Lena glanced down at her knuckles, noticing Webby had finished her work, and curled it back over her other arm. She stared, expectant, until the other duck took the initiative and used a clean part of the wet cloth to wipe the red from her cheek. She also took the opportunity to dab at Lena's eyes, clearing away some of the salty dampness that had soaked into her feathers, along with dark traces of leftover eyeliner that had gotten horribly smudged amidst everything.

Blood in her feathers, runny makeup, hair all askew, Webby had to admit this was probably the most vulnerable she'd ever seen Lena. She had caught glimpses of this Lena when she sometimes woke up from nightmares, crying and shivering in her bed, but the light was always dim and the focus was on consoling her friend and helping her get comfortable again. Lena was always so confident and sure of herself, and it broke Webby's heart to see her pained like this.

When she was satisfied, Webby disposed of the towel into the hamper, and put everything back in its place before washing her hands. This included everything that had been knocked from the cabinet above the sink, and it gave her an opportunity to better examine just how damaged the bathroom mirror was. It would definitely need to be replaced, but what exactly had driven Lena to smash her fist directly into it? The cuts being on her fist indicated that it wasn't an accident, as if she'd slipped and tried to catch herself (badly). No, all the evidence indicated her actions had been deliberate.

Webby settled herself next to her friend, barely touching, but close enough they could feel each other's presence. They sat quietly for awhile, burning questions on the edge of Webby's beak, but she knew better than to try to pressure Lena into talking. She'd open up when she was ready. Patience was the best way to get her to explain.

Eventually, Lena leaned her head on Webby's shoulder, at the same time reaching out her hand to grasp the others, entwining their fingers as she peered down at the bandage.

"I don't want to grow up. I'm… afraid."

Webby waited for there to be more, but when Lena didn't elaborate she decided to take a gamble and offer a response. "I think everyone is a little afraid of growing up. You don't have to change just because you get older."

"But I am changing. Every day I feel like I'm morphing into her. I'm so terrified that one day I'll wake up and I AM her. I look so much like her, as if I'm some kind of a clone. I came from her shadow so I'm not exactly my own person. She might still have some kind of hold on me I don't know about. She could come back and control me again."

It was so rare for Lena to admit she was afraid of something, even it it was evident to those around her. So hearing her admit to being scared must have meant this was a fear far different from the norm.

"She won't. I won't let her get to you. I love you too much to let her do anything to you ever again."

"I look in the mirror and I just see- I just see-"

Well that more or less explained what had occurred. Webby turned to her friend, using her free hand to cup her face. "When I look at you, I see Lena. You are Lena. You always will be. That doesn't have anything to do with what you look like on the outside. It's the person I know who's on the inside that counts. If I went blind and I couldn't see you, I'd still know who you are. What you might look like on the outside does not define who you are on the inside. You chose to fight Magica at the bin, you chose to try to rise up against her before the eclipse. Even without a body, Lena still existed. You still existed. I know who you are. You're not Magica. You're my best friend. I've known who you really are since the day I met you. I never stopped believing in you. You ARE a real person. You'll always be real to me."

Lena swallowed back the lump in her throat, mirroring Webby's gesture and cupping her face as well. "How do you always know the right thing to say?" she grinned fondly down at her.

"I just speak from my heart. And you- you're in my heart. That makes it easier," the slightest bit of color appeared on her cheeks as Webby made her confession.

The other duck hmmm-ed lightly in response, leaning down so their foreheads were touching. She was still scared, a bit, but this felt so warm and safe she could almost forget her trouble. Lena always tried to be brave, and fearless, like she didn't have a care in the world. Maybe her desire to appear tough was a remnant from her time with Magica, and the need to keep any sort of emotional vulnerability hidden. That was all over now, and the truth was it was extremely comforting to have Webby pledging to protect her. For perhaps the first time, Lena felt secure. If Webby believed in her, believed she could be good and believed she could be better than her lineage, maybe it was true.

"I'm sorry about the mirror."

"Don't worry about that. It can be replaced. You can't be replaced."

Lena pulled away, sighing as she gazed affectionately into Webby's eyes. "I don't deserve you."

"Of course you do! You deserve everything. The world! You went through so much and you still came out of it all being the sweetest, kindest person I've ever met."

"Then you've got to get out more."

"Stop it! I'm serious. You are amazing and beautiful and nothing can stop me from being your friend. Not threats, not curses, not disasters, not even Magica. I'd like to see her try to get to you now!"

"Thank you for giving me a chance. I literally wouldn't exist without you. I'd be stuck as a part of Magica's shadow. Some days, it feels like I still am. But seeing your face every day, it helps me stay grounded. I can never forget it was you who brought me back, and it's you that constantly reminds me I don't live under Magica's rule anymore. I get to be free. There's no way I can repay that, but, if you ever think of anything comparable, I'll do it."

"Lena, you silly darling. Your friendship has paid me back enough. I've never met anyone like you, and I never will. There's only one you, and it'd be impossible to find a replacement that's just as amazing as you are."

Before things got too sappy, Lena came up with an excuse to change the topic. "This is kind of starting to hurt. I didn't think this through."

"Let me see," Webby lifted the hand to her beak, placing a gentle kiss on each knuckle. "You have to tell me if you need help with anything while it heals. I'll be right there to assist you."

"I think I can handle it."

But she had to admit to herself it felt nice to have someone around to care for her. Someone to pick her up if she got hurt, someone looking out for her. After so long of having to be guarded and having to face the world on her own, she could finally afford to let herself bask in the compassion allowed to her.

They lingered in each others company, quiet and still, until the smell of the housekeeper cooking breakfast drew them out. Despite the rough start to the morning, both were now in good spirits. Life was full of obstacles and adversity and bad memories, but maybe, if they had each other, they just might get through it all together.


End file.
